Report: FBI missteps in runup to Fort Hood shooting

FBI agents failed to act on “politically sensitive” signs of Muslim radicalization before Army Maj. Nidal Hasan went on a Fort Hood shooting rampage that left 13 soldiers dead, according to a two-year review released Thursday.

Former FBI Director William Webster concluded that the mistakes made by the FBI agents were not intentional and that those agents should not be held responsible, or punished, for failing to prevent the November 2009 tragedy.

Instead, the report offers 18 formal recommendations to improve and detect terrorist threats, according to Webster, who conducted the review.

“We have not hesitated to identify shortcomings when we found them,” Webster said. “We do not find, and do not believe, that anyone is solely responsible for mistakes in handling the information.”

Specifically, the report found that FBI agents failed to launch an investigation into Hasan despite e-mail contacts he made with known terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen prior to the Fort Hood attacks.

Hasan opened fire with two pistols at military installation, killing fellow soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. The shooting stopped when Hasan was felled by bullets fired by military police.

The FBI released the 173-page, heavily redacted copy of the review late Thursday. A classified version of the report was given to FBI Director Robert Mueller on July 12.

Mueller sought the independent review in the wake of congressional criticism following the shooting, and an internal investigation conducted by the FBI.

“We constantly strive to improve our policies and procedures, and I appreciate the final report’s acknowledgment of the actions that the FBI has taken since the shootings,” Mueller said.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, applauded the FBI for releasing an unclassified version of the review.
“The American people need to know we are doing everything possible to make sure something like this terrible tragedy doesn’t occur again,” Cornyn said.

Cornyn said embarrassment of a federal agency is not just cause “to sweep this under the rug.”
Hasan faces a military trial Aug. 20 on 13 charges of premeditated murder and 32 charges of attempted premeditated murder for the November 2009 Fort Hood rampage.

An Army psychiatrist, Hasan is paralyzed from the 2009 shooting and is in jail awaiting the court-martial.

He faces the death penalty.

The review found that FBI agents on the San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force were aware that Hasan had contacted al-Awlaki numerous times before the shooting spree and discussed the killing of civilians, but failed to bring that information to the attention of the Department of Defense.

In one email, Hasan discussed suicide bombers, and whether it is permissible for “the killing of innocents for a valuable target.”

But an FBI field office in Washington determined that Hasan, an American-born Muslim who served at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, was not involved in terrorist activities, according to the review.

The agents did not interview Hasan, or co-workers or supervisors who were aware of his growing radicalization, despite good performance reviews.

An agent told the FBI in San Diego that Hasan was not interviewed because the Washington field office “doesn’t go out and interview every Muslim guy who visits extremist websites.”
The agent indicated the subject is “politically sensitive.”

Although San Diego agents said the assessment by Washington agents was inadequate, neither FBI office took further action and Hasan was transferred to Fort Hood, where he was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan in November 2009.

“Their assessment of Hasan was belated, incomplete and rushed, primarily because of their workload,” the review states.

Hasan, with 15 years of military service, arrived at the deployment center on Nov. 5, 2009 and opened fire, shouting “God is Great” in Arabic.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, who was briefed on the review’s contents before it was released, told the Associated Press that “political correctness” at the FBI led to the failure to act promptly on information about Hasan’s contact with a Yemeni imam.

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., agreed, saying “domestic radicalization by al-Qaeda and its affiliates is a serious threat to the homeland that absolutely must be addressed dead on by the federal government without concern for political correctness.”

Webster concluded that the mistakes were unintentional, and that FBI agents “need better policy guidance to know what is expected of them in performing their duties.”

The review headed by Webster took two years to complete.

It contains 18 recommendations that include new training procedures, a review of protocols of operations and information systems as well as corrective measures to enhance investigative techniques and reporting.

Cornyn and lawmakers pushed for making public the review. He said he agreed with a heavily redacted report to the public.

“I’m sure there is some sensitivity by the FBI and others about releasing information that would then become part of the trial,” Cornyn said.

Cornyn, a former Texas attorney general, state Supreme Court justice and state district court judge, also warned that officials must be careful in their comments about the report before the trial.

“I don’t want to do anything or say anything that might prejudice anybody’s rights leading up to the trial. I think it’s very important that that proceed according to the rules and the law and that justice be done,” Cornyn said.

A Pentagon review of the Fort Hoods events immediately after the shooting led to new reporting rules to be implemented to prevent attacks from occurring again on military installations.

The terrorist al-Awlaki was an American Muslim from New Mexico, who later moved to Yemen and became an al-Qaeda operative.